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The Commoner.
7
OCTOBER 2, 1003. -
volt delivered an address at the dedication cere
monies, and he ia being vey generally criticised
'because ho omitted from his speech all reference
to General George B. McOlellan. In the battle of
Antietam 93,000 men were engaged, and the killed
and wounded numbered 21,000. Even Mr. Roose-
'velt said that the battle of Antietam was "of mo
mentous and decisive importance." A writer in
the Brooklyn Citizen says: "The news of Antie
tam changed the whole aspect of the war. For
the north tno days of gloom and despair were
over; for the slaves 1t was the dawn of liberty;
for the confederate agents in Europe it was the
death-knell of all their plana to securo the rec
ognition of the independence of the southern con
federacy from jltOuIs Napoleon and Queen Vic
toria. The battle of Leipzig was no more import
ant to the cause of Germany in the war of libera
tion from the Napoleonic yoke than was Antie
tam to the Union cause."
a?
IN VIEW OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BAT
tlo of Antietam and tho fact that the central
figure in that great struggle was General George
B. McClellan, many people have been surprised
that Mr. Roosevelt should have omitted all refer
ence to that great soldier. A writer, in the Brook
lyn Citizen, referring to Mr. Roosevelt's speech,
says: "The president discovered that there was
a General Greene on tho Union side in that flght,
and ho hastened to tell his hearers that he left a
son who is the present police commissioner of this
city, but the name jof McClellan stuck in the
president's throat for political reasons, and would
not out. Think of King Edward unveiling a
monument to the British soldiers who fell at
Waterloo without mentioning the name of Well
ington. Imagine, if you can, Emperor William ad
dressing the survivors of tho Franco-Prussian war
at Sedan without a reference to VonMoltke, and
one can then measure the extent of the president's
partisanship. But, what else can be expected
from a president who constantly prates of his
own heroic deeds ln a little skirmish in the Spanish-American
war and sends General Miles into
retirement without a single reference to his glor
ious career in three wars?"
ar
AT MIDNIGHT, SEPTEMBER 22, THE TIME
1 ' for 'agreement with the Colombia govern
ment for the'- Construction" of the fstnmian canal
expired. 'Nothing was received to show that the
Colombian congicss had taken affirmative action.
It was reported that the congress had clothed
President Marroquln with full power to negotiate
a treaty." The president is counted a friend of the
treaty, and Jf this report be true, it is 'believed he
would protend to complete negotiations for the
Panama rouie Under the terms of the Spooner
act, President Roosevelt can elect to proceed
along the Nicaragua route or the Panama route.
A Washington correspondent for the St. Louis Re
public says that many observers of the situation
believe that the present generation will not live
to see the actual beginning of the construction of
such a waterway. This correspondent says: "They
base this opinion on the well known opposition of
the transcontinental railroads, the managers of
which have been -adroit but effective opponents,
the enormous cost of su".h a canal, and the long
period required for its coLstruction; the danger of
corruption in handling tbe vast sums needed for
tho work, and a fear iliat, before it could be com
pleted, the progress el modern engineering may
have devised a cheaper and more expeditious
means of transporting loaded vessels across tha
Isthmus of Panama. Had the matter been taken
up vigorously immediately after the 10,000-mIlo
trip of the Oregon around Cape Horn, during the
Spanish war, it is believed that a full indorse
ment of the project would have been had from
the American people. But, during'the last year,
sentiment at the capital has changed materially
as to the wisdom of expending $300,000,000 or more
for such a purpose." Tnis correspondent adds:
"In short, the sentiment in favor of any canal
has waned rapidly in Washington, and the failure
of the Colombian government to come to terms
is taken by many observers to mean the end of
canal negotiations for a long time to come."
T' HE ORGANS OF IMPERIALISM HAVE TOLD
the American people that the people. of the
Philippines were largely composed of wild tribes.
The Washington correspondent for the- Chicago
Record-Herajd, a republican paper, says - that
Henry Gannett and Victor H. Olmstead, who were
General Sanger's assistants in taking the Philip
pine census, recently arrived in Washington, and
will begin the preparation of their report as soon
as General Sanger and the census returns reach
the national capital. This Washington corre
spondent adds: "Mr. Gannett says tho total pop
ulation of tho islands will probably bo shown
to bo almost 8,000,000. A rough count of tho civ
ilized peoplo shows a total of about 7,000,000. Al
though it was impossible to obtAln an exact count
of the wild tribes, estimates which have already
been received show tho number to bo at least
650,000, and it is thought tho total will exceed
this, as all of tho districts inhabited by uncivilized
tribes have not been heard from. It is believed
tho census will show tho population of the islands
to bo 10 per cent greater than the most liberal
estimates made. Tho wild tribes are chiefly in
tho Islands of Mindanao and Luzon, and conse
quently tho returns from those Islands are in
definite and based chiefly on ostimates. Enum
erators were employed there, but found It impos
sible in many cases to get an actual count."
HH. RAND, THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK
of tho postmaster general, has been absent
from the postofllco department for several months.
A Washington correspondent for tho St. Louis
Republic says that it has developed that Mr.
Rand has boen carried on tho roll as "on leave
without pay" and has not drawn any money from
the treasury since January 1. This correspondent
says: "This is taken as an indication that Mr.
Rand has been quietly dropped by the postmaster
general and is no longer in tho employ of tho
government Mr. Rand was confidential clerk to
the postmaster general, and In tho early stages of
the investigation his name was frequently men
tioned in connection with tho charges that promi
nent officials "were using their positions to pro
mote the sale of mining shares of more or less
doubtful productiveness. There have been per
sistent rumors that ho would lose his position.
Mr. Rand was appointed from Wisconsin, where ho
assisted Payne in political affairs. So strong was
he with the postmaster general that tho latter
made a strong euort to have the chief clerkship
of the department taken from the civil service
rules so that Mr. Rand mig'it get the position."
lC JO
ONE EFFECT OF THE NEW IRISH LAND
law already noticeable is a pronounced check
upon Irish emigration. An anti-emigration so
ciety has been formed in Ireland whose purpose
it is to restrain emigration and to keep the peo
plo in their own country. A writer in .the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, referring to Irish emigra
tion, says: "The volume of emigration has been
enormous. During the last decade of the nine
teenth century Franco lost by emigration only
one inhabitant out of 0,975 of its population, Ger
many one in 2,574, Belgium one In 2G7, England
one in 292, Italy one in 212, Scotland one in 214,
Spain one in 261, Portugal one in 241, Sweden one
in 427, Austria-Hungary ono in 480, Denmark ono
in 686, Switzerland one In 1,256, Holland one in
2,772 and Ireland one in 114. Of course, the cause
of this movement, which has threatened Ireland
with depopulation, was the misery of tho people
and the impossibility of making a career in con
ditions imposed by the British government. Ire
land is one of tho most fertile 'countries in tho
world. The blight of landlordism being removed
there is every reason to believe that she of
fers all that her sons can ask, for several genera
tions at least"
THE UNITED STATES MINISTER, POWELL,
has sent to tho Dominican government a
protest as follows: "That the action of the Do
minican government in sending to congress a pro
ject for establishing the neutrality of Dominican
waters and making certain ports free, would (in
view of the fact that San Domingo Is a neighbor
ing state) not be accepted in a friendly spirit by
the government of the United States. That tho
United States government would not allow the
establishment of any coaling ports in Santo Do
mingo or the cession of any portion of Santo Do
mingo territory to any European power. That
the United States will not permit any nation to
make exclusive use of Dominican waters in time
of peace much less in time of war. Nor would tho
United States allow any portion of Dominican -territory
to bo classed as neutral, nor permit any
section of the country to conflict with the conces
sion granted to the Clyde lire, according to which
all vessels arriving from foreign ports are com
pelled to pay port dues excepting the Clyde steam-
ers.'
IC
VON DER GOLTZ PASHA, THE GERMAN
drill master, says that the porte can sparo
for service in European Turkey 250,000 regulars.
It is also said that the porte will soon have 400,
000 men in the field In Macedonia. Commenting
upon theso statement, & writer In the New York
Sun says that "it follows that If 400,000 soldier
aro to bo used In Macedonia to crush tho rebels,
a largo proportion will bo driwn from tho re
serves in Asiatic an woll an European Turkoy.
Poorly paluV-it would be nearer tho truth to say
unpaid ignorant and fanatical, somo bloody work
may bo expected from theso Irregulars. Tho tlrao
has passed for belittling the insurrection in Mace
donia." WE ARE REMINDED BY THE SUN TH'AT
tho Turks had tho habit of boasting that
thoy could sweep the Bulgarians, whom they call
"a low race," off the faco of tho earth, but tho
Sun says: "A twelvemonth ago It was tho im
pression at Constantinople that tho insurgents
would hunt their holes at tho appearance of a few
battalions of regulars. And now It hns become
nocessary to lino tho railways with soldiers and
cover tho faco of tho country with marching men.
The fiction that the Insurgent caiiRe would col
lapso unless the principality of Bulgaria secretly
reinforced tho rebels has been exploded. Re
cruits havo flocked to thol flag from within,
more than from without, the boundaries of Mace
donia. Tho infamous rulo of Turkey has bred
robels among her own people. No longer aro thoy
able to stand tho imposition of taxes that crush
the life out of industry, or to endure a system
of justice which is an oppression and a mockery."
THE INSURRECTION THAT IS NOW AT
tracting tho attention of tho world was,
according to tho writer In tho Sun, the evolution
of many years of schoming and inciting. Each
spring there was to bo a rising, but none came.
A few battles sufllced to hold tho discontented in
check and discourago the soldiors of fortune As
lato as last autumn, the Turks in a battle In a
mountain pass, stamped out tho embers of revolt
so thoy believed, but the Are was only smoulder
ing, now it has leaped into tho sight of all the
world and Is spreading over Macedonia like a con
flagration. ic t
THE PROBLEM AS TO HOW THE CON
flagratlon in Macedonia may bo controlled
and extinguished is agitating some of the great
est minds of tho world. Tho writer in tho Sun
says: "Tho answer of the porte is to pour a vast
army into Macedonia and declare it will restore
order. Tho answer of an English observer, a cor
respondent of tho London Daily Nows, is moro ex
plicit. Ho says: 'The Turk means to oxterml
nato tho Macedonian Bulgars. And, in tho slang
o modern political language, Christian Europo
appears to havo made up hor mind to give tho
murderer "a free hand." Thero is no longer any
doubt that tho Macedonian Interior has just been
tho scone of Turkish atrocities as horrible as those
which aroused tho indignation of tho less selfish,
less materially minded, moro humane and generous
Europe of tho seventies. Tho horrors of Krus
hevo aro tho horrors of Batak, of Tatar Bazardjik,
of Carlovo, over again. Nor let it be supposeTT
that tho 'bashl-bazouk" is tho only perpetrator.
In work such as is now going on in Macedonia and
Adrianbplo thero is no distinction between "re
ular" soldiers and bashl-bazouk. They are feroc
ious brutes in human shape, both of them. Bashl
bazouk and regular come from the same classes
of the Mohammedan population. They are aliko
in their up-bringing, their black Ignorance, their
blind fanaticism. Tho "regular" has served "with
tho colors," but for the re3t he is a bashl-bazouk
in uniform.'" In Its own behalf tho Sun says
that "when the porte abandons its attitude of re
servo and bluntly notifies the foreign embassies
at Constantinople that it will not answer for
their safety and that they had better look out
for themselves, the crisis in the affairs of Eu
ropean Turkoy which has been so much dreaded
is at hand. Tho sultan has lost control of his
army."
THE CHICAGO CHRONICLE IS AUTHORITY
for tho statement that the personal ex
penses of Abdul Hamld, sultan of Turkey, aro
larger than those of any other monarch in Eu
rope. Tho Chronicle says: "Ho spends annually
no less a sum than $30,000,000. Of this $7,500,000
alone is spent on tho clothing of the women of
his harem and 1400,000 on tha sultan's own ward
robe. Nearly another $7,500,000 Is swallowed up
by presents, $5,000,000 goes for pocket money and
still another $5,000,000 for the table. It seems
incredible that so much money can possibly be
spent in a year by one man, but when it is re
membered that some 1,500 persons reside within
the palaco walls and live luxuriously and dress
expensively at the cost of tho civil list it appear!
a little more comprehensible."
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